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Twin panda cubs at Tokyo zoo named Xiao Xiao, Lei Lei

21 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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21 Comments
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what a lovely warm and natural environment for these precious creatures..... 可愛いなー。

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Inconvenient truth 1: The twin will be (forcibly) striped of the names when returning to China at the end of contract. The ownership belongs to China.

Inconvenient truth 2: Tokyo has paid about 100 million yen per year to loan pandas. Of course it's from tax money. To see pandas at the Ueno Zoo, you have to pay admission. A double charge, no?

上野動物園のパンダ、中国に支払うレンタル料は

https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO24976500S7A221C1EA5000/

Inconvenient truth 3: By updates, pandas are no longer an endangered species while Beijing is still taking advantage of the protection program for own political purpose and profiteering. Shame.

6 ( +14 / -8 )

Why don,t the government open up public jails for viewing session? Could be a better earn than a couple of pandas. Over there we have the notorious pickpocket of Kobe station, to the right today we been able to have on display the great jail escapee Suto. I pay to see that. Why lock animals for doing nothing wrong and charge money to see them when today you can get a better view and more info on the internet. Why not earn revenue by holding public viewings of jailed criminals ?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

So cute! Like you kind of want to hug them. I look forward to seeing them with their mommy.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Cute photos

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Inconvenient truth 1: The twin will be (forcibly) striped of the names when returning to China at the end of contract. The ownership belongs to China.

No, the names are selected in consultations with China.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

I like the videos of them munching and crunching crispy bamboo and pumpkins. So endearing.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Inconvenient truth 1: The twin will be (forcibly) striped of the names when returning to China at the end of contract. The ownership belongs to China.

No, the names are selected in consultations with China.

Names for pandas born in Japan are proposed by the public, selected by the committee under Tokyo gov. There is no intervention from Beijing.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Names for pandas born in Japan are proposed by the public, selected by the committee under Tokyo gov. There is no intervention from Beijing.

Exactly.

The pro-China poster who suggested otherwise has a habit of struggling to comprehend the written story.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Does it really have to be Chinese names? Or still not yet Japanese citizen?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Send them back to China and stop paying 100 milion a year fees for them!!!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Names for pandas born in Japan are proposed by the public, selected by the committee under Tokyo gov. There is no intervention from Beijing.

From the article:

*the Tokyo government chose the names from more than 190,000 entries sent from around Japan *and after consulting with the Giant Panda National Park in China

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Don't support CCP or like what their doing, especially recent aggression.

We shouldn't hate the Pandas. They are cute, Chinese people care about them a lot too, showing respect is common courtesy.

You want to counter China, stand up to them, built strong deterrent... Let's do it! I'm in favor!

Dont involve the Pandas. We are better people then that.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

@Fighto: as was already pointed out in the comments, this is right in the article. I will quote it below just for you once again. Next time try focusing or taking a deep breath before going into your commenting bursts.

Officials from the zoo and the Tokyo government chose the names from more than 190,000 entries sent from around Japan and after consulting with the Giant Panda National Park in China, which owns the pandas.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Can't believe Japan spends that much money on those bears when the Chinese hate the Japanese so much

Err, this is a bit one sided. The Japanese are as anti-Chinese as the Chinese are anti-Japanese. If not more. The Chinese have reasons to dislike Japan. What reasons do the Japanese have other than rudely thinking Chinese are noisy and dirty?

Let's be real here.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Cuties!

But why is it that every time Japanese people give Chinese names, it's always the same name twice?

I don't get that.

That isn't a Chinese thing.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

why is it that every time Japanese people give Chinese names, it's always the same name twice? I don't get that.

That isn't a Chinese thing.

It's a Chinese thing:

There are also other conventions. It is frequently the case that children are given names based on gender stereotypes, with boys acquiring 'masculine' names implying strength or courage while girls receive 'feminine' names concerning beauty or flowers. Since doubled characters are considered diminutives in Chinese, many girls also receive names including a doubled pair of characters or two characters with identical pronunciation. A famous exception to this generally feminine practice is Yo-Yo Ma.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_given_name

It's a fairly well known Chinese phenomenon. Here is some more on it: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Chinese-names-often-contain-double-words-like-Yao-Yao-Wei-Wei-or-Sun-Sun

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Pandas are a joke and are just used by china as soft diplomacy. The enclosure space at Ueno zoo is appalling. The only great panda exhibit I've seen is at the Washington DC zoo.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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